Iran’s Policy towards Post-Saddam Iraq

ABSTRACT

This article deals with Iran’s policy towards post-Saddam Hussein Iraq. It starts by outlining the post-‘9/11’ geopolitical background marked by the US ‘global war on terror’ with its focus on the ‘Middle East’ in general, and Iran in particular. It then lays out Iran’s two-pronged strategy towards post-invasion Iraq. That strategy was meant to ensure a Shia-dominated government (in tandem with US interests) while complicating the US occupation there in order to avoid the possibility of a US attack on Iran as desired by US neoconservatives. Last but not least, it critically reflects upon the prominent theme of sectarianism.